Patents by Inventor Michiharu Niimi

Michiharu Niimi has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6697498
    Abstract: A method and computer program product for embedding information within an indexed color image such that the existence of the data is not recognizable by the human eye. The method includes the steps of altering color image data, such that it will not cause a large color change in the representing image, and hiding information using an information hiding method. The altering step is accomplished via a color set changing method. The color set changing method involves first decomposing the image in to a set of color component images, embedding data in the color component or components, which the human visual system is most sensitive to, then merging representative colors until the number of representative colors is less than or equal to the target number of colors and reformatting the resulting image into indexed color image format.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2004
    Assignee: ASA Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Eiji Kawaguchi, Richard Eason, Michiharu Niimi
  • Publication number: 20020031241
    Abstract: A method and computer program product for embedding information within an indexed color image such that the existence of the data is not recognizable by the human eye. The method includes the steps of altering color image data, such that it will not cause a large color change in the representing image, and hiding information using an information hiding method. The altering step is accomplished via a color set changing method. The color set changing method involves first decomposing the image in to a set of color component images, embedding data in the color component or components, which the human visual system is most sensitive to, then merging representative colors until the number of representative colors is less than or equal to the target number of colors and reformatting the resulting image into indexed color image format.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 2, 2001
    Publication date: March 14, 2002
    Inventors: Eiji Kawaguchi, Richard O. Eason, Michiharu Niimi